Creating the Foundations for High-Quality Climate Change Education in Schools
Edited by Lekha Sharma, School Improvement Lead, Avanti Schools Trust on behalf of CAPE
Despite the pressing issue of climate change and its impact on the planet's future, debates around high-quality education seem to have taken a back seat in the public domain. On a recent visit to a well-known airport bookstore, I could not find any books dedicated to the topic or any articles in popular science magazines referencing this high-profile issue. As educators, we face a challenge in knowing what to do, when to do it, and how to approach this complex issue – a sense of direction is needed.
Last week, CAPE brought together an expert group working throughout the education sector at the University of Stirling to scope a pathway for the future. The overall purpose of the meeting was to highlight the need for high-quality climate change education and a way to make it happen.
The day started by acknowledging the value brought by differing views, experiences, and knowledge, as we approached our collective sense-making. Our conversations were underpinned by our values at CAPE being kind, evidence-informed, and collaborative.
Drawing inspiration from Brené Brown's work on kindness, we continue to recognise the importance of clear communication for school leaders and teachers to facilitate difficult conversations. Developing an evidence-informed strategy for climate change education requires time for deep professional conversations and a focused approach that avoids relying on folk wisdom. By prioritising evidence-informed decision making and implementation, we can ensure a well-informed and effective approach to climate change education in schools.
The value of our collaborative work goes beyond pooling collective resources; it takes valuable steps towards ensuring an inclusive conversation that isn't just for a select few. Through mindful consideration of who we work with, whose views are being represented, and how we can draw upon wider expertise, we take important steps towards a more inclusive agenda.
Moving away from heroic leadership towards a more relational approach, we are committed to ensuring that adults' and children's views are brought to the forefront. A recent study, "State of the Nation 2022: Children and Young People's Wellbeing Research Report" by the Department for Education, highlights that children and young people are extremely worried about environmental societal issues. However, teaching about climate change is complex - it requires teachers and school leaders to develop extensive knowledge and skills before high-quality provision can be implemented. A one-size-fits-all, off-the-shelf approach isn't sufficient. We must acknowledge the different purposes of education that exist across schools and school trusts and align climate change education with what pupils are being taught and how they are being taught in their context.
Therefore, CAPE's mission to support schools and school trusts will focus on implementation, curriculum coherence, and professional development – this is a priority not just for this year but for years to come.
To understand how our mission could be achieved, we learned how policy in Scotland is well written, but effective implementation remains an issue and teacher confidence around sustainability and climate change education continues to be low. One of the added dimensions we need to consider is the emotional angle. Climate change is not an individual issue, or the responsibility of one person. We must be mindful that climate change refers to the long-term shifts in temperature, precipitation patterns, and other weather conditions that occur over decades or longer. These changes are caused by a range of factors, including human activities such as burning fossil fuels and deforestation, as well as natural processes such as changes in solar radiation and volcanic activity. Climate change is a complex and urgent global issue that requires collective action to both mitigate and adapt to its impacts. It is critical and urgent that we equip children and young people with the knowledge and skills to take collective action and explicitly teach them how to self-regulate. Simply having knowledge alone will not lead to a meaningful change in collective behaviours.
We know that it’s important that children and young people are given the opportunity to make positive changes to nature in their community. To achieve this there is a natural and strong link between the use of the outdoors and climate change education. However, what do school leaders and teachers do when some of these grounds are not fit for purpose? There needs to be a focus on matching climate change education with local spaces and the resources to teach in outdoor contexts; the two must be developed in tandem. Communities, local authorities, and schools need to work together to develop a greater understanding of what we want our community spaces to look like.
The work of CAPE is a timely reminder of not only the pressing issue of climate change, but also of the hope that climate change education can bring. It is essential that we hold evidence-informed climate change education central to our mission at CAPE. It is a mission that will equip children and young people with the knowledge and skills to act collectively and make a positive impact. By doing so, we hope to build an equitable pathway that will protect our planet for all children and young people and create a better future.
